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'Chicken from hell' dinosaur gets proper name

Associated Press
8:10 p.m. CDT March 19, 2014

In this handout provided by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, an artist's rendering depicts a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur that was formally introduced to the scientific community by scientists with the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Utah March 19, 2014. Dubbed Anzu wyliei, referring both to a mythological feathered demon and the name of a Carnegie museum trustee's grandson, the seven-foot-tall creature weighed about 500 pounds when it roamed western North America 66 to 68 million years ago. (Photo: Handout Getty Images)

In this undated handout provided by the Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian scientists Tyler Lyson (L) and Hans-Dieter Sues examine a reconstructed Anzu wyliei skull, part of a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur that was formally introduced to the scientific community by scientists with the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Utah on March 19, 2014. Anzu wyliei, referring both to a mythological feathered demon and the name of a Carnegie museum trustee's grandson, stood seven feet tall and weighed about 500 pounds when it roamed western North America 66 to 68 million years ago. (Photo: Handout Getty Images)

UNDATED - In this undated handout provided by the Smithsonian Institution, a reconstructed toothless Anzu wyliei skull is shown, part of a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur that was formally introduced to the scientific community by scientists with the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Utah on March 19, 2014. Anzu wyliei, referring both to a mythological feathered demon and the name of a Carnegie museum trustee's grandson, stood seven feet tall and weighed about 500 pounds when it roamed western North America 66 to 68 million years ago. (Photo: Handout Getty Images)

In this handout provided by the Smithsonian Institution, an artist's rendering depicts a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur that was formally introduced to the scientific community by scientists with the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Utah March 19, 2014. Dubbed Anzu wyliei, referring both to a mythological feathered demon and the name of a Carnegie museum trustee's grandson, the seven-foot-tall creature weighed about 500 pounds when it roamed western North America 66 to 68 million years ago. (Photo: Handout Getty Images)

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In this handout provided by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, an artist's rendering depicts a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur that was formally introduced to the scientific community by scientists with the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Utah March 19, 2014. Dubbed Anzu wyliei, referring both to a mythological feathered demon and the name of a Carnegie museum trustee's grandson, the seven-foot-tall creature weighed about 500 pounds when it roamed western North America 66 to 68 million years ago.(Photo: Handout Getty Images)

After years as the 'chicken from hell,' a two-legged, beaked dinosaur gets a scientific name

For years, a birdlike dinosaur that stood some 7 feet tall and weighed around 500 pounds has been called the chicken from hell. But now scientists have given it a more dignified moniker: Anzu wylei.

That refers to a mythological feathered demon, plus the name of a museum trustee's grandson. Scientists picked it only after finding out that the phrase "chicken from hell" doesn't make a very pronounceable name in Latin or Greek.

The researchers revealed the name Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE. Anzu lived some 66 million to 68 million years ago in western North America. A replica of its skeleton is on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

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